{ We’ve been doing this because we believe the CBC may be more honest and more respectable than Media in the U.S.A., & not a lot of people in the U.S. may know that or have access to anyone who might point them toward the CBC & their web site. }

{ & again, these are not links. If you want to read these stories, listen to sound clips, or see any video -if there is any video- go to CBC dot CA/news. —Thanks. ———djo——— }

=======================

Northern Lights ‘may put on a show all over Canada tonight, thanks to the double impact from solar plasma smacking the Earth’. * & ‘Solar Plasma’ smacking the Earth is probably not a good thing. —djo—

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Lead Articles:

-Analysis- ‘He really is not the same as Rob Ford’: But will that help Doug Ford or hurt him? { Rob Ford bowed out of the mayoral race in Toronto and his brother, Doug, jumped in. John Tory, a Conservative, was in 1st place in the polls and probably still is, Rob was in 2nd, and Olivia Chow, NDP, was in 3rd. We’ll have to wait and see if Doug replacing Rob changes anything, or if any significant ‘X Factor’ changes everything. —djo— }

Rob Ford quits Toronto mayoral race, brother Doug steps in { }

N.L. Tories to pick new premier at St. John’s convention { }

Ukraine PM says country still in state of war with Russia { }

Ebola ‘moving far faster than the capacity to manage’: WHO { }

Family of British hostage appeal to Islamic State to make contact { }

Watch for northern lights across Canada tonight { }

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“Offbeat”

16-year-old Draven Rodriguez, of Schenectady, NY- Wants to have his Senior Yearbook photo to include “Mr Bigglesworth” the Maine Coon Cat in this portrait. —djo—

How Doug Ford’s political skills and baggage will affect his mayoral candidacy { }

Terry Fox’s cancer now highly curable says medical expert { But ‘Big Pharma’ does not want cheap cures on the market when they are making so much money with pills that keep people sick and only relieve a little of their pain and suffering. —djo— }

Ebola crisis: Nursing student returns from ‘terrifying’ aid trip { }

B.C. teachers’ strike: Both sides silently resume discussions { }

-20 photo slide show- Oscar Pistorius guilty of culpable homicide { }

-Blog- Facebook Messenger found to be tracking ‘a lot more data than you think’ { }

-Technology & Science- Apple iPhone 6 map of Canada confuses Toronto, Ottawa { And Canadians visiting us here in ‘the lower 48’ gasp at weather maps that end at the Canadian border. They know a lot more about us, even our weather, than we know about them. Why do you suppose that is? Narcissism? Wool pulled over -whose- eyes? —djo— }

-Technology & Science- Jane Goodall on Vancouver Aquarium belugas: ‘That’s not right’ { This article describes Jane as a ‘renowned conservationist’ and quotes her as saying that the Vancouver Aquarium’s beluga breeding programme is ‘indefensible’. Has anybody asked the belugas, orcas and dolphins what they think about this? —djo— }

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“Local /New Brunswick”

Bruce Northrup, province files defence against Windsor Energy claims { “Former natural resources minister Bruce Northrup and the province of New Brunswick have filed a statement of defence against claims made by natural gas exploration company Windsor Energy. – Khalid Amin, the president of Calgary-based Windsor Energy, launched a $105-million lawsuit against the New Brunswick government and Northrup last month alleging Northrup made false, misleading and defamatory comments that hurt the company. – Amin claims Northrup was libellous when he issued a press release in November of 2011, following an incident in which a Windsor subcontractor did seismic tests along Route 1 inside Sussex town limits. – Northrup said the company had violated the province’s Oil and Natural Gas Act – The province also filed a complaint with the RCMP. – In the statement of defence, the law firm Stewart McKelvey says, “the defendants deny the words complained of were made with malice.” – “The public had a social, political and moral interest in receiving those statements.” – The defence also denies that Windsor Energy’s reputation suffered because of Northrup’s comments. – They argue that any damage to reputation “is not as a result of the words complained of, but because of the plaintiffs’ actions in the media and the plaintiffs’ actions in disregarding the requirements of the act and regulations, its licence and permit.” -” —djo— }

Michael Camp: Liberals, PC stick to script in ‘strange election’ { }

N.B. this week { }

Liberal candidate Andrew Harvey’s fraud charges dropped { }

=======================

{ 1:45 pm – Publishing now, will finish checking for typos and painting with crayons later – 5:22 pm – Back from chores & other tasks, colorized and checking one more time before ‘updating’ – ———djo——— }

{ We’ve been doing this because we believe the CBC may be more honest and more respectable than Media in the U.S.A., & not a lot of people in the U.S. may know that or have access to anyone who might point them toward the CBC & their web site. }

{ & again, these are not links. If you want to read these stories, listen to sound clips, or see any video -if there is any video- go to CBC dot CA/news. —Thanks. ———djo——— }

-New- Scottish referendum: The issues that may decide it { “6 days to go” says the voice on BBC radio —jim }

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Zeus, A Great Dane from Michigan, lived almost 6 years- 🙁

“Offbeat”

Farewell to Zeus: World’s tallest dog stood over 7 feet tall { }

‘Freckles’ the calico lobster caught off Maine { }

Under the dome: 1958 plan for Iqualuit was town under concrete shell { }

Canadian Burger fans flip over In-N-Out pop-up { }

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“Most Viewed”

Nicole Kidman’s father Tony dies in Singapore { }

3 dead babies found in Massachusetts home ‘filled with vermin’ { }

Rob Ford still in hospital as election deadline looms { }

Cody Legebokoff guilty of 4 counts of 1st degree murder { }

Conservatives’ fall priorities add up to one: winning re-election { To quote Doug on this – “Well- ‘duh’!” – But I have detected a sudden atmosphere change toward sneering mockery and haughty posing among Conservatives across the board in the last couple days. It was spooky, as if they’d all been coached to make faces and act like 8-year-old bullies. —jim }

-8 photo slide show- Batmobile returns: It’s back in black { And looks more like a streamlined tank with high tech machine guns than anything else. —jim }

Ari Fleischer, Preside George W. Bush’s former press secretary, tweets moment-by-moment account of his 9/11 experience { *** Sorry, I can’t believe this. The former press secretary might have been out of the loop but ‘Dubble-yuh’ was too well rehearsed when he officially received the news while talking to a room full of kids. The BBC reporter’s premature announcement that building 7 came down was damning. And the increasing number of professionals, including building engineers who said a building could not come down the way the two biggest towers did unless they’d been set up before hand – and pilots who testified that nobody who had learned to fly a Cessna could jump into the cockpit of a huge multi-engine passenger jet and aim it at something like a building at the speed it was traveling at – bring me to the conclusion that either the real bad guys behind this attack will be unmasked, or they’ll try very hard to pull off even worse acts to cover their butts as they try to get away from the angry mobs that will want their heads on spikes in public somewhere. —jim }

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Other:

-Analysis- Stephen Harper’s focus for the fall: It’s all about next year { To mis-quote Princess Leia from the first Star Wars movie they released in 1977 “The more you tighten your grip, the more [ disillusioned voters ] will slip through your fingers-” —jim }

-New- Search underway for more bodies in squalid U.S. home { -gag- }

Nicole Kidman’s father dies ‘unnatural death’ in Singapore { The terminology could refer to a fall or other accident as well as the violent images that fill our heads here in the Americas when we hear something like that. —jim }

-New- Ian Paisley, the Protestant firebrand of Nothern Ireland, dies at 88 { BBC radio is playing excerpts of his speeches that rival Adolph Hitler’s tone and cadence. —jim }

Ukraine ceasefire: Dozens of prisoners exchanged between Ukraine, rebels { And yesterday, the tweet-os-phere was home to photos of soldiers with swastikas on their helmets. —jim }

Women fight back against rampant sexism in video game industry { Ever heard the phrase, “Pink it and shrink it” ? In a self-fulfilling policy agenda, the gaming industry farmed games for women & girls out to lower budget groups and spent a lot less on their development- & when the not so wonderful games were released, most women and girls were bored with them, so industry pundits pointed at that and said, “See?- Girls don’t buy games-” – That was from an interview on a CBC radio one talk show yesterday —jim }

-Politics- Shawn Atleo agreed to ‘substantive amendments’ to First Nations education bill { “Shawn Atleo, the former national chief for the Assembly of First Nations, signed off on amendments to the federal government’s controversial aboriginal education bill after an initial draft was rejected by First Nations, documents filed in federal court show.” – He “quit the AFN last May amid criticism from First Nations leaders that he had grown too close to the federal government given his support for the aboriginal education bill.” —jim }

-Business- EI premiums: Joe Oliver announces cuts for small businesses { And last night’s tweets included one that was very close to : – Thousands of workers see Joe Oliver give their bosses a big tax break – and nothing for them- —jim }

-Business- Canadian dollar at lowest level in 5 months { -I’ll tell you – after several years of watching the Canadian ‘Looney’ rising and falling in relation to the value of the U.S. dollar, I’m convinced that these machinations have nothing to do with anything involving economic ‘reality’ —jim }

-Business- If Yes side wins, Royal Bank of Scotland would move to London { After an extended period of un-slanted comments coming to us about Scottish Independence, in the last 3 or 4 days, the tone has changed to threats and foot stamping- childish behaviour by the Britts. —jim }

-Arts & Entertainment- Neil Young reportedly dating Daryl Hannah ‘for months‘ { -Privacy issues aside here, this may be one of the least snarky headlines in the gossip business in a long time. —jim }

-Arts & Entertainment- Michael Che to anchor SNL’s Weekend Update { -Um, I kind of haven’t been paying much attention to what’s going on at Saturday Night Live since the Chevy Chase / John Belushi days – —jim }

-Community- Minecraft fans worried about potential Microsoft acquisition { * There should be live links in this >>—-> “From nine-year-old kids to hardcore adult gamers, Minecraft holds a special place in the hearts of millions worldwide. – Owned and developed by Swedish software giant Mojang, the highly immersive sandbox video game is currently the No. 1 most downloaded paid app for both Apple and Android devices, with an additional 54 million copies sold for desktop computer and console versions of the game. – Fans of the game, which allows players to construct their own virtual worlds out of Lego-like cubes, have been known to recreate elaborate film and TV sets, iconic landmarks, historical battles, viral videos — even entire countries in Minecraft. – Minecraft wedding proposals, Halloween costumes, and merchandise have also become quite common in recent years, as the game — originally launched for PCs in 2009 — gains steam among players around the world. – Needless to say, Minecraft is huge — and extremely important to those who play it often. – Thus, when the Wall Street Journal reported this week that Microsoft was in talks with Mojang to buy the game for more than $2 billion, many were displeased.” —jim }

Province approved export of 3,000 truckloads of pulp in 2014 { “The New Brunswick cabinet has approved the export of 120,000 cubic metres of pulp wood from Crown land so far this year.” & First Nations and New Brunswickers worried about jobs being exported have been complaining about tactics like this- the premier who claims he is only doing stuff like this to ensure that New Brunswick people can stay in this province and find work here is shipping their potential jobs to Maine, Nova Scotia, Quebec and Europe. —jim }

Brian Gallant’s energy stance hypocritical, David Alward says { – I think I just pointed out in the article above this one, that premier David Alward’s ‘jobs’ stance was even more hypocritical that what he’s accusing his opponents of being and doing. —jim }

Bathurst collecting Costco membership fees to lure retailer { }

Parties report election sign vandalism in continuing { – I saw what I thought was 3 NDP signs go missing from a short stretch of a local main road last week. 2 of them came back- I don’t know if this means anything, but: the only PC signs up in this area are on vacant lots and non-residential places, like churches- What I saw in a one kilometer stretch was 4 signs for NDP candidates, 2 signs for Liberals, now 1 or 2 for Green Party candidates and maybe 2 for the ‘Alliance’ party in the same, non residential spots as the PC signs. —jim }

David Alward links shale gas to Moncton’s economic rebirth { PC affiliated premier David Alward has put all his political eggs in the Shale Gas Fracking basket. Last night on television news somebody came up with a new poll that, unlike the CBC poll of a couple days ago, instead of reporting that the voters were divided almost right down the middle claimed a big majority of New Brunswickers wanted to be fracked. Sounds like the propaganda campaigns are coming up with ‘don’t try to confuse me with the facts’ tactics. —jim }

{ I’ve been doing this because I believe that the CBC may be more honest and more respectable than Media here in the U.S.A., AND not a lot of people in the U.S. may know that or have access to anyone who might point them toward the CBC & their web site. }

{ & again, these are not links. If you want to read these stories, listen to sound clips, or see any video -if there is any video- go to CBC dot CA/news. —Thanks. ———djo——— }

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It’s a big day for Apple Computer- They have staged a large unveiling event.

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Spiritual quote of the day, “In an interview, Mahavishnu John McLaughlin said that his Guru had completely changed a lot of his thinking when, after John said, “I can’t work with that guy-” the Guru said, -‘Yes you can, the difficulties you have in working with this person are a chance for you to grow and learn to overcome your self imposed limitations’ – & I mean to tell ya, that bit of inspiration blew a hole in my ability to believe that people who oppose us are tools of some hypothetical devil- That was an eye opener- or maybe a soul- or spirit-opener?” ———Jim Wellington { I have that on tape- Happy Birthday, Jim —djo— }

Automaker sees automated freeway travel within 2 years { & I think I remember old shows about future technology telling us we should be flying in hover cars and riding on automated highways by the year 2000. —djo— }

2 women in their 90s marry in Ottawa 7 decades after meeting { * Yes, they married each other. & With this article are links to “Same-sex marriage rights by U.S. state” – “Where in the world is homosexuality a crime?” & “Where in the world is same-sex marriage legal?” —djo— }

NDP plots strategy as Tom Mulcair plans to get out of the House { The New Democratic Party of Canada is releasing their platform a year ahead of next year’s election -next year’s, if the sitting government isn’t driven out of town on a rail before that- Tom Mulcair is the leader of the NDP. —djo— }

-Technology & Science- Jack the Ripper named as Aaron Kosminski, Polish immigrant: book { This report claims that Aaron Kosminski’s DNA was found on the bloodstained shawl of Catherine Eddowes, one of the Ripper’s victims. * What if there were more than one Ripper? There are reports that the ‘Son of Sam’ killings were done by a series of young men being initiated into a cult. What if this cult was entrenched in the culture for centuries? —djo— }

-Arts & Entertainment- Tiff 2014: Michael Moore for mayor of Toronto? { I’d vote for him – not that my endorsement wouldn’t be the kiss of death to anyone’s political career —djo— }

-Health- Dartmouth General patients get special gowns to stay warm { * How about that? A hospital that actually cares about its patients? Oh, wait a minute, that’s in Canada. Canadians are nicer, aren’t they? & More fun- How many U.S. cities have a mayor who would make Michael Moore look like a nice, safe, conservative alternative? -Okay, so most Canadians are really nice, and friendly, and warm, and sexy, and——— —djo— } {*** Sounds like Doug fell in love with a Canadian, ya think? —————Jim W }

-Hockey- Penguins’ Sidney Crosby happy with healed wrist { Yes, CBC News has a whole separate area just for Hockey news, even in the summer, which has been described as ‘Two weeks of bad hockey’ by Canadians. 😉 —djo— }

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“Local / New Brunswick”

First Nations forestry plan appeal decision reserved { “Justice Margaret Larlee promises ruling within 10 days on temporary injunction sought by chiefs” * This is the crawl that I believe Jim complained he couldn’t find clarification for- A judge in New Brunswick’s highest court has reserved decision on an appeal by First Nations Leaders, who want to put a temporary stop to the Alward government’s forestry plan. -I put this article at the top of the heap, Jim’s comments are a couple articles down- —djo— }

Decision on Rod Gillis’s appeal of obstruction conviction due today { Rod Gillis, described as a ‘prominent Saint John criminal defence lawyer’ was sentenced to 22 months in jail in 2013 after being found guilty of attempting to stop a witness from testifying against one of his clients. The appeal centers around the trial judge’s interpretation of a note Gillis wrote to a client’s former employer. —djo— }

Green Party unveils plan to create new Forestry Act { *** Last night there were several items crawling beneath the CBC News Channel’s programmes, One plan, credited to First Nations, is something I hoped would be clarified here- Another one sounded like the sitting government dismissed some kind of criticism and plans to go ahead with their agenda to allow more ‘Crown’ forest land to be ‘harvested’ by oil company & conglomerate JDI -Irving- who are spending tons of advertising dollars to try to look like they care about the environment etc.—————Jim W }

-New- High-tech golf cart maps Moncton sidewalks { }

David Clayton-Thomas happy to be headlining Harvest { Fredericton’s Harvest Jazz and Blues festival is on now – and David Clayton-Thomas, whose voice you may know from his days with Blood, Sweat and Tears- will be headlining Thursday Evening – Dangit, and I’m stuck in Ithaca- 🙁 —djo— }

“New Brunswick Votes 2014”

Campaign focus turns to leaders’ debates { CBC will air and live-stream debates tonight for 90 minutes beginning at 6:30 pm Atlantic Time / 5:30 pm Eastern – & after the debates are finished, you can get the debates ‘on demand’ at cbc.ca/nb <—-<< Link —djo— }

Shale gas pursuit will have ‘severe, undeniable’ consequences { * Well, ‘duh!’- I’ve been trying to tell you that all along.* “Opponents to the shale gas industry have packed into meetings and held protests across the province in recent years” & “When we are confronted by new evidence that contradicts what we believed was true, we experience what psychologists call “cognitive dissonance.” – Because holding two opposing thoughts in our head at the same time is uncomfortable and confusing, we try to resolve the conflict. – We may verify that the new evidence has merit and then change our old ideas and behaviours accordingly. This is essentially how science works. – But because we really don’t like the inconvenience or discomfort that can come with changing long-held beliefs and habits, we can instead resolve the conflict by seeking excuses to downplay the importance of the new evidence and rationalize away any need to change our ways. – We can see both methods at work in how we dealt with the emerging truth about the dangers of tobacco. We eventually changed our habits, but it took decades for us to face the truth. – In the end, the “inconvenient truth” always wins, but our desire to ignore it often costs us time and, as in the tobacco example, many lives. – We are now confronted with an issue that won’t allow us the luxury of decades to change our behaviour. Our pursuit of shale gas and continued use of fossil fuels have severe, undeniable and observable consequences. – We can stay on this course only by ignoring the evidence in three areas: public health, climate change and economics.” & There’s more at >>—-> Link: Opinion Page linked to this issue —djo— } {*** & The people who crack the hardest are those who believe they are the most stable – & Those who believe they are fighting for a future prosperity they have been lied to and convinced that Fracking is the way to go are among those who believe they’re the stable ones and we’re wacko nut jobs protesting because we’re horny and looking for other wacko nut jobs to procreate with. Link: >>—-> “Half-Past Human dot com“, with their eerie track record of predicting major catastrophes through very scientific means- is with us on this. Fracking will destroy safe drinking water and totally ruin the economy. & Remember? A First Nations wise person told me that the inter-dimensional beings- some of us call them faeries, leprechauns and ‘elementals’- will fight with us against the frackers. Mother Earth does not want to be fracked. Prayers always help, —————Jim W *** }

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{ 11:11 am & my back hurts- time to check for typos and get out the crayons – 11:45 am Finished, ready to click the “Publish” Button ———djo——— }

{ I’ve been doing this because I believe that the CBC may be more honest and more respectable than Media here in the U.S.A., AND not a lot of people in the U.S. may know that or have access to anyone who might point them toward the CBC & their web site. }

{ & again, these are not links. If you want to read these stories, listen to sound clips, or see any video -if there is any video- go to CBC dot CA/news. —Thanks. ———djo——— }

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This is a meteorite impact crater 12 metres/39 feet wide and 5 metres/15 feet deep in a wooded area near Managua, Nicaragua’s international airport and an air force base.

Laurie Strano, mother of 2, names as Ride the Rideau crash victim { The 40-year-old active cyclist was struck and killed by a garbage truck while participating in a charity event that raised $2.3 million for cancer research at The Ottawa Hospital. —djo— }

CRTC begins hearing proposals for pick-and-play, other cable TV changes { “CRTC” = Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. Proposals include requiring cable and satellite providers to offer a basic service made up mostly of local Canadian channels, and allowing subscribers to pick the channels they want to receive one at a time as opposed to insisting that they purchase ‘bundles’ which often include stations the subscribers don’t want and never watch. —djo— }

Kwon Ri-sae, Ladies’ Code band member, dies { The 23-year-old member of a South Korean band became the 2nd member of the group to die after their van hit a guard rail on a rain-drenched highway near Seoul, Korea. —djo— }

B.C. students brace for 2nd week of new school year without classes { If kids today are anything like I remember being, I don’t think many are crying themselves to sleep because their schools are not open. —djo— }

-Canada- Shale gas development divides voters, CBC poll finds { The poll reports that 49 percent of voters ‘completely or mostly’ support exploration and development of the shale gas industry – Which involves Fracking – while 44 per cent mostly or completely oppose it. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.5% * Those who back the exploration and development believe the party line b.s. that a lot of jobs and a big economic boost will come from allowing the oil and gas conglomerates to frack them where they live. – As the photo of the poster we ran a couple times here shows, Oil and Gas investments return 2 jobs for every million dollars invested, while Clean Energy returns 15 jobs per million dollars invested, and Building Efficiency returns 14 jobs for every million bucks invested. Maybe we should run a poll and see if anybody really cares about not being able to afford to get healthy safe drinkable water as long as their fiendish local gas company gets millions of dollars from further fleecing them after they’ve been fracked into not being able to live on the property they over-paid for. —djo— }

-Arts & Entertainment- Death of girl group singer Simone Battle ruled Suicide { The 25-year-old singer from band G.R.L., which was ‘discovered’ by the tv program X Factor, was found dead on Friday. Lt Fred Corral of the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Department said the cause of death was determined on Sunday. —djo— }

-New- 3 firms tied to Liberal Andrew Harvey defaulted on ACOA loans { “ACOA” = Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency. Andrew Harvey is the Liberal candidate for provincial office who was suspended from the Liberal party when charges were laid against him, even though the party leader complained that the timing of those charges was highly suspicious. Andrew Harvey is listed as a member of the board of directors on 3 companies which received loans for the ACOA and haven’t paid them back yet. A court granted a ruling that two of these companies were in default as of 2009 and in 2011 the clerk of the court entered a judgement against the two companies for $225,000 plus $825.00 in interest. In March of 2012, the third company that Mr Harvey is involved with withdrew its statement of defence in their case and that December -2012?- the court entered a judgment against the company for $228,977.12 plus $728.98 in interest. Andrew Harvey is still running for a seat in his riding (which those of you in the U.S.A. would call a ‘district’) But, if he wins, he will ‘sit as an independent’ and not with Liberal party members. —djo— }

“New Brunswick Page” :

Liberal Leader Brian Gallant promises 10,000 jobs in platform { }

Hilton Hotel lockdown lifted in Saint John { -Almost missed this one. A hotel in Saint John, New Brunswick, was quarantined yesterday when a guest was found sick in a room. The guest had been traveling in Cameroon, Africa- not one of the spots currently involved in the Ebola scare – Doctors determined Ebola was not a factor in the guest’s illness. —djo— }

David Alward pitches shale gas at future nursing home site { }

-Featured Video- [with ads before and after the video] NDP Leader Dominic Cardy speaks with Harry Forestall about the NDP’s election platform. { Among other things, the NDP wants a moratorium on Shale Gas Development, and it wants to eliminate the small business tax, will not commit for or against programs and issues for which the details have not been released- saying if these programs are so good for New Brunswick- Why haven’t the details been made public? —djo— }

{ I’ve been doing this because I believe that the CBC may be more honest and more respectable than Media here in the U.S.A., AND not a lot of people in the U.S. may know that or have access to anyone who might point them toward the CBC & their web site. }

{ & again, these are not links. If you want to read these stories, listen to sound clips, or see any video -if there is any video- go to CBC dot CA/news. —Thanks. ———djo——— }

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“15 kilogram Cat” -that’s about 33 pounds- up for adoption in California. The people at the shelter are trying to get “Little Dude” the kitty to slim down first.

-& I added- Deer stroll down Golden Gate Bridge { ‘Two deer trotted through rush hour in San Francisco on Friday, briefly stopping traffic” In the video they take off at high speed and later slow down while I guess motorists snapped their photos and shot the video on cell phones, —djo— }

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“Most Viewed”

Most university undergrads now taught by poorly paid part-timers { }

Drew Carey offers $10K to find culprits in cruel ice bucket challenge prank { Someone in small town Ohio talked a 14 year old with Autism into taking the Ice Bucket Challenge for charity and dumped a bucket of urine and feces over his head, shooting the video on a cell phone. Whattaya think? If they catch these guys should the do the same to them in public? —djo— }

Justin Trudeau may be the next big thing – but Steven Harper’s still Nickelback { Sounds like the mean spirited anti-Liberal headline writer is back at work here. —djo— }

-Point Of View- Youthful optimism in the face of a world gone mad: Michael Enright { }

How ISIS recruited a former B.C. university student to fight in Syria { }

-Must Watch- Fat cat up for adoption { I put his photo up at the top of today’s list. —djo— }

-World- 9/11 museum displays memorablia from bin Laden assassination { -And the Conspiracy community is still convinced that bin Laden was a U.S. agent who regularly went to U.S. military bases for Dialysis treatments, probably died from his kidney disease years ago, might have been played by several different actors – was the ‘goose who laid golden eggs’ for the lying-evil-maniplating-war-mongering-elitist-military-ice-holes who used him as the monster hiding under everybody’s beds in order to squeeze as much money as they could from the U.S. taxpayers to further their evil agenda. -My Point of View?- I don’t believe anybody- & since the Weekly World News ran the headline, “Dinosaurs honked like Buicks”- I don’t think I can be any more disillusioned about Mainstream or commercial news media. Some day I should post a list of what different groups believe are disinformation schemes and outright lies in mainstream media. —djo— }

-Politics- Philippe Couillard tells Stephen Harper he wants Quebec to sign Constitution { I love Quebec. I love French Canadians & feel like I am richer for having been exposed to their culture and personalities. It tickles the cockles of my heart to hear four-year-olds speaking perfect French – even if they speak way too fast for me to pick up more than a quarter of what they say. – Quebec, apparently, never signed the Canadian Constitution. A lot of French Canadians feel like they constantly got, and get, the short end of the stick. Philippe Couillard is the premier of the province of Quebec- He ‘took advantage of a meeting with Stephen Harper’ to re-state his opinion that Quebec should sign the Constitution. He said so at an event to commemorate the 200th birthday of Sir George-Etienne Cartier – the French-Canadian statesman seen by many as the ‘Father of Confederation’. -Confederation is the term they used when the provinces got together to form a single identity as ‘the confederation of colonies’, which became the ‘Canadian Confederation’ on July 1st, 1867.- Wikipedia wants us to know that ‘confederation’ usually refers to an association of sovereign states. —djo— }

-Arts & Entertainment- Venice Film Festival: Sweden’s Andersson wins Golden Lion { I learned something reading this article – more than one ‘something’. & one of the things I like most about doing this every day- Checking through and writing out the headlines – is that I keep learning things – and do not feel like my brain is turning to dried out seaweed at an accelerating rate – I had to read through most of this article to learn whether this Festival was in Venice, Italy or Venice, California. It is in Italy. I usually shy away from entertainment fluff, because, frankly- I don’t give a flying dang about what actress is wearing whose dress or which cute couple is breaking up and I am realllllly sick of hearing the phrase ‘baby bump’ while the television screen shows women who just spent thousands of dollars to look good in a million dollar dress that makes me want to hear Moon Unit Zappa reciting “Gag me with a spoon” over and over again. —djo— }

I’m guessing this is the ‘shame suit’ a young woman in Florida was forced to wear – she recently moved to Florida and might not have realized the school believed a skirt she could have worn in her old school was inappropriate in the fascist eyes of the Florida school’s administration.

-Community- School forces 15-year-old girl to wear ‘shame suit’ after violating dress code { “How far should school administrators be able to go when it comes to enforcing dress codes? -In recent years, high profile student-teacher conflicts over items like visible bra straps and short demin shorts have prompted many Canadian parents to speak out on the issue — and the perceived “shaming” of female students, in particular. -Now, with another school year underway, tales of aggressive dress code enforcement are making waves once again. -The mother of a 15-year-old Florida girl is threatening to file a complaint against her local school board this week, alleging that her daughter was “publicly humiliated” for wearing a skirt that was deemed too short. – Miranda Larkin recently started attending the Oakleaf High School in Orange Park, Fla., after moving to the area from Seattle. – On the third day at her new school, Miranda says she was informed by a teacher that her skirt (which school policy indicates must be “knee-length or longer”) was too short. The teen says that she was unaware of this rule.” — Don’t get me started. Today’s schools are aberrations to begin with. Kids who love to learn are forced into a culture where they make learning as boring and painful as possible. Not only are intelligent, sensitive kids forced into situations that breed bullies and penalize intelligence and sensitivity- they have to deal with idiots for administration types who are there, not to educate, but to whip kids into ‘shape’ to become good little zombie consuming units who never question authority and submit to the bullies who call themselves ‘leaders of their communities’ Gaaaa! —djo— }

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“Local / New Brunswick”

NB Liquor enters the growler game, brewing doubt { A ‘growler’ is a 64 ounce bottle of beer. Small “Craft” brewers were told last year that they could not sell growlers at their breweries any longer unless they had already sold a ridiculously high volume of beer at a provincial liquor store – which might have put many small craft brewers out of business. So now three provincially operated liquor stores in New Brunswick are testing a pilot program to see how well Growlers from small and huge breweries do when sold in their official provincial liquor outlets. – Like maybe – if they can’t make a million dollars on your stuff, then you should give up, go home and strongly consider suicide? grumble grumble- —djo— }

Brian Gallant vows to expand international lobster markets { And Brian Gallant knows how to get his name positively mentioned in the news every day as he runs for premier as the leader of the New Brunswick Liberal Party. —djo— }

“New Brunswick” page:

Atholville anxious for medical marijuana plant to be approved { }

Severe thunderstorm expected to rain down on New Brunswick { This was expected to happen yesterday – Jim W said he saw some interesting clouds, but after a spattering of rain drops that- “felt like they’d been blown way off course from a storm somewhere else- those clouds kind of smiled like they were embarrassed and ran away.” —djo— }

{ I’ve been doing this because I believe that the CBC may be more honest and more respectable than Media here in the U.S.A., AND not a lot of people in the U.S. may know that or have access to anyone who might point them toward the CBC & their web site. }

{ & again, these are not links. If you want to read these stories, listen to sound clips, or see any video -if there is any video- go to CBC dot CA/news. —Thanks. ———djo——— }

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Canada Leads The World in degrading Pristine, Intact Forests. This pipleine carries steam to well heads and heavy oil back to a processing plant. This section cuts through boreal forest 120 km south of Fort McMurray, Alberta.

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Lead Articles:

B.C. cool to idea of arbitration to end teachers’ strike { -More like, The B.C. government and the Minister of Education are cool on the idea of allowing an impartial 3rd party decide how this should be worked out. —djo— }

Results of Alberta Tory leadership vote due later today { }

Sierra Leone to ‘lockdown’ areas infected with Ebola { }

Fighting in Ukraine subsides as ceasefire takes hold { }

Donetsk residents doubt truce would create lasting peace { }

“U.S. President Barack Obama vowed in June that he would act without Congress to reform the immigration system. But a debate appears to be underway at the White House over the timing of any immigration announcements. Will he or won’t he act before the midterm elections?”

NATO faces 1st test, as Estonia accuses Russia of abduction { According to the Estonian government, Russian agents crossed the border of Estonia and detained a police officer. Estonia and Canada are calling this a provocation. —djo— }

Disney thinks this image is too much like Mickey Mouse Ears.

David vs. Goliath trademark battles: Giants don’t always win { The electronic DJ known as Deadmau5, is being sued by Disney for incorporating giant ears as part of his costume. }

-Photos- Bad weather soaks stars, fans on second night of TIFF { It was Bill Murray Day at the Toronto International Film Festival. }

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“Offbeat”

Robot milkers gaining in popularity at dairy farms in N.B. { }

An Ocean Sunfish, like the one in this photo , washed up on the beach at Cape Disappointment, near the mouth of the Columbia River in Washington state, USA. The fish was 6 feet long and weight almost 300 pounds.

‘It’s really an odd-looking fish’: Rare 2-metre sunfish washes ashore { Some West Coast friends of mine are very worried that radiation from the Fukushima Nuclear Power plant disaster -after the earthquake and Tsunami- might poison vast stretches of the Pacific Ocean and make living on the west coast of North America not so pleasant in the near future- We get updates from Coast to Coast am (<—-<< Link-) every so often that are not encouraging. —djo— }

Tim Hortons coffee cups: XL claims put to the test { Somebody tested the capacities of Timmy’s large and Extra-Large paper cups- & contrary to the Conspiracy Theory that both cups hold the same amount of coffee- found that when filled to the line that Tim Hortons Employees fill these cups to- There are 4 more ounces in the Extra-Large cup than the Large one. —djo— }

Toronto Festival goers — and the world — celebrate #BillMurrayDay { I heard an interview yesterday with the producer behind some of Bill Murray’s more memorable movies – Bill does his homework and deserves the accolades he received. —djo— }

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“Most Viewed”

Pictures of storm clouds, downed trees as storm passes through { This article includes several ‘tweeted’ photos taken in the Ottawa-Gatineau Ontario-Quebec area yesterday- The storm was quite impressive. —djo— }

Alex Stone arrested after U.S. teen wrote about shooting pet dinosaur { Link This one really is worth reading. A 16-year-old student in South Carolina had an assignment to write about himself as if he was updating his status on facebook. He wrote that he shot his neighbor’s pet dinosaur with a gun he’d bought. His teacher notified the authorities and the police were called in. The student had his book bag and locker searched – and, when he objected to the way he was being treated was called, ‘irate’ and taken out of school in handcuffs. The school did not inform his mother. She is quoted as having said, ‘I mean first of all, we don’t have dinosaurs anymore. Second of all, he’s not even old enough to buy a gun.’ – And I would add that if the teacher believed that everything any teenaged kid would write as a status update on facebook was politically correct – that teacher is not connected to anything like ‘Reality’. —djo— }

Busting Bill Murray: 10 believe-it-or-not stories { }

[Dutch dentist] Jacobus van Nierop’s patient: ‘Everything was infected’ { The Dutch dentist, arrested in New Brunswick and wanted by interpol on warrants from France claiming he mutilated patients- allegedly told somebody in an immigrations hearing/interview that he’d killed his wife in the Netherlands in 2006. A woman who lives in France said the dentist insisted she have all her fillings replaced even though she was unaware of any problems with them. After the dentists did the oral surgery she did have problems. She says he used dirty, infected instruments when he operated on her. The woman said her eldest child was also a victim of this dentist. —djo— }

Two dead, eight injured after moose collision on Highway 11 { }

-Blog- Spirit Airlines slips up by trying to cash in on nude celebrity photo leak { The Airline sent email ads to customers saying “Our Bare Fare was Hacked!” and featured a line drawing of a woman covering her chest with her arm. —djo— }

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Other:

Fragile Ukraine ceasefire seems to be holding { }

-Audio- The celebrity nude selfie leak and why we care { }

5 memorable marketing blunders { }

Education Minister cool to arbitration to end B.C. teachers’ strike { If the Education Minister is afraid than an impartial arbitrator would find against the government and in favor of the teachers- that should tell you something. —djo— }

-Politics- Brian Mulroney says Supreme Court criticism ‘sends the wrong signal’ { “Former Progressive Conservative prime minister Brian Mulroney says it was “unhelpful” for Prime Minister Stephen Harper to publicly criticize Chief Justice Beverly McLachlin. Mulroney is credited with winning the biggest landslide victory in Canadian election history – then turning the government over to Kim Campbell -the 1st and only woman Prime Minister of Canada so far- The people I’ve talked to in Canada blame Mulroney for the biggest loss the Conservatives ever suffered He came in with the biggest pro-conservative vote ever and after he left, the conservatives only won 2 seats – out of 295 —djo— }

-Politics- Canadian special ops soldiers to be part of anti-ISIS team in Iraq { }

-Technology & Science- House sized asteroid flies near Earth this Sunday { A newly discovered asteroid – 20 meters wide -that’s about 65 feet & change- will pass a ‘safe’ 40,000 kilometers / 25,000 miles above New Zealand – The article goes on to say that they asteroid will be farther from Earth than any of our communications or weather satellites. —djo— }

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“Local / New Brunswick”

-Opinion- Michael Camp: Campaigns marked by political allegations { Michael Camp is a journalism professor at St Thomas University in Fredericton. “Two allegations against David Alward’s Progressive Conservatives caught my attention this week. – One was colourful and direct. The other was by innuendo, one of the darker arts in the world of political persuasion. – The first came on Thursday when Dominic Cardy laid out the NDP’s platform. – Cardy is doing his best to shake off the perception that the NDP is a party devoted to taxing, spending and racking up big deficits. – He said he didn’t buy the idea that there was anything left wing about driving New Brunswick into bankruptcy. – So before the bank arrives to repossess the car and the furniture, we better straighten things out. – That’s the ‘new’ NDP message. – But I think Cardy’s attack on patronage should connect with a lot of voters — if he can get them to listen. – Who would disagree with this little gem from the party platform? – “Whether it’s a Conservative minister getting the road to a friend’s fishing camp paved while your car bangs over potholes that never seem to get fixed, or your neighbour, a prominent Liberal supporter, who always finds a summer job grant for his children — too often knowing the right people seems to matter more than working hard.” – Cardy didn’t name names. His examples were generic rather than specific. But every voter knows it’s the way things have always worked in this province. – If you want a nice job, start by making friends with a politician in power ” && “The other notable allegation, if you can call it that, was made by Liberal Brian Gallant. – On the same day Cardy was unveiling his platform, Gallant took a little time off from his usual campaign routines to offer some comfort and support to Andy Harvey. – Gallant suspended Harvey as the Liberal candidate for Carleton-Victoria when it was revealed that he was facing fraud charges. – We don’t know much about the case, other than it involves the Harvey family business and the sale of some wood. – Harvey says he’s innocent. Fair enough. The courts will decide. – But in the meantime, Harvey and the Liberal leader are raising questions about the timing of the charges. – With the cameras rolling, Gallant told reporters they should ask the attorney general of New Brunswick why a Liberal candidate would be charged in July, three years after an alleged offence took place, just as the election campaign was getting into gear. – And if voters hadn’t given this much thought, Gallant apparently thought a little nudge would be in order. – “You’d have to ask the Attorney General as to why it’s been done now,” Gallant said. – “And I’ll certainly allow New Brunswickers to come to their own conclusions as to why it would have popped up now.” – ” —djo— }

David Alward unveils full ‘Say ‘Yes’ platform for PCs { Jim W’s assessment of television commercials for this ‘Say “Yes” to jobs etc.’ campaign: >>—-> “David Alward comes across as a mean-spirited high school bully looking down from behind a political pulpit, sneering at voters with a message that feels like “Only a god -bleeped- idiot would vote for [the opposition] – He’s got that smug “my-daddy-could-afford-to send-me-to-the-most-expensive-educational-institutions. So I clearly know better than you do- look. He claims that fracking is safe and will provide loads of magic jobs for everybody- And that is just not true. Scientists whose jobs depend on money from the fracking industry are the only ones I’ve heard claim that fracking is safe. When the protective layer of stone that keeps natural gas down -and keeps the gas from seeping into well water- is shattered- there is no way they can protect the water supply from gas and other harmful chemicals. Their suggested band-aid solutions are laughable- metal pipes rust- concrete slabs crumble and crack. There is no safe way to repair an area that has been fracked. & Hey, run the poster again-“—Jim Wellington. — Okay, I’ll do that. —djo— }